A new program being developed in our state aims to help kindergarten teachers get the best, earliest and most complete look at the children coming into their classroom, so that they give each child the support needed to be successful in school.
Being tested this school year with 3,000 children in 120 kindergarten classrooms around the state, the Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (WaKIDS) creates an opportunity for families, teachers and early learning professionals to talk about an individual child's strengths and needs before school starts. That conversation is then coupled with a more formal assessment of each child's social, emotional, physical and academic skills once school starts. The process is about making sure kids get a great start in school.
The WaKIDS pilot was designed in partnership with elementary teachers and principals, special education specialists, early care and education providers, parents and representatives from Washington Tribal communities.
Watch this Learning for Life as we talk with a Loyal Heights Elementary kindergarten teacher, whose classroom is participating in the WaKIDS pilot, and state officials to learn more about WaKIDS and why we need such a process in our schools.
09.22.10
Improving the Quality of Licensed Child Care
When child care providers get one-on-one coaching and a modest amount of money to make changes to their program, the quality of the care they give children starts to go up - and pretty quickly, according to a recent study done on the state's proposed system to boost the quality of licensed child care in Washington state.
The findings come from an independent evaluation of Seeds to Success, a voluntary child care quality rating and improvement system being field tested in five Washington communities - White Center, East Yakima and Spokane, Clark and Kitsap counties - by the state Department of Early Learning and Thrive by Five Washington.
Experts agree that high-quality early learning experiences give young children the start they need to enter school ready for success. But today, licensed child care quality in Washington varies considerably, and the children who need high-quality care the most, often don't get it.
Seeds to Success, like many of the country's other quality rating and improvement systems for child care, aims to help improve the quality of licensed child care - in centers and family homes - and give families more information about the quality of their local child care options.
Watch this Learning for Life as we look at one child care center that got the benefit of Seeds to Success coaching and a quality improvement grant over the past year and the changes that have been made to improve the quality of care being offered to all children.
09.15.10
Play & Learn Time for Migrant Families
Families that follow the crops and move every few months travel only with what’s absolutely necessary and that means few – if any – books and toys for the children.
But a program at the Monitor Migrant Camp near Wentachee is showing families how to have fun with what they do have – pots, pans, purses, hats, shoes. It’s also helping parents, as well as older siblings, understand the importance of taking time to read and play with younger children.
The Kaleidoscope Play & Learn at the Monitor Migrant Camp is funded through a grant by the Washington Apple Education Foundation, a group of growers who like the program because it gives families information and skills they can keep using when they leave.
Watch this Learning for Life segment as we travel east of the mountains to learn more about the Kaleidoscope Play & Learn at the Monitor Migrant Camp.
09.08.10
Helping Kids Successfully Transition to Kindergarten:Beverly Park Elementary School kindergarten teacher Richard Dunn says he's never had such a great start to the school year ... and, when he said that, the school year hadn't officially started.
Dunn and three other kindergarten teachers at the White Center-area school spent last week at school with many of the school's 76 enrolled kindergartners as part of the new Kindergarten Transition Program. For three hours each morning, kindergartners got know each other, their teacher and what to expect at school, such as how to behave in circle time, where to find the bathroom and how to get lunch. Teachers also visited each family's home to learn more about their students' families, set share goals, and talk about school expectations and ways for families to support learning at home.
Dunn says it's great to have this time with the kindergartners before the "big kids" show up and that it will make it so much easier to jump into the school year. Dunn advocated for the program to come to his school after hearing how successful it has been in Yakima schools.
Watch this Learning for Life as we travel to Beverly Park Elementary to look at the Kindergarten Transition Program. The program first started three years ago in four East Yakima schools as part of the work of Ready by Five, one of two Thrive by Five Washington Demonstration Communities. Beverly Park's Kindergarten Transition Program is supported by the White Center Early Learning Initiative's (WCELI), the other demonstration community.
State Releases 10-Year Plan for Early Learning All children deserve the best start in life and school possible ... and we all benefit when they get it. They're healthier, more successful in school and more engaged and productive in society and life.
Washington's new statewide early learning plan, which was released on Sept. 1, will help give more children that great start in life and school.
The plan is the roadmap for building a comprehensive early learning system in Washington over the next decade. It is designed to better coordinate all of the great work already happening for children and families and guide policy, funding and ongoing work by organizations and agencies. And it shows how we all make a difference in the lives of children.
Watch this Learning for Life as we talk with Dr. Bette Hyde, director of the state Department of Early Learning, and Nina Auerbach, president and CEO of Thrive by Five Washington, the state's public-private partnership for early learning, about the new statewide early learning plan, what big changes are in store to help young children and families in Washington state and what role parents and families play in the plan.
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